Sasuke's 'Not-a-Birthday-Party' Birthday Party
by Kinomi Akai
Summary: COMPLETE. Naruto insists it's not a party. Naruto insists that it's going to be great. Sasuke knows better. SNS, canonverse, Post-war but pre-new gen, established relationship, oneshot. Happy birthday Sasuke!


_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of its associated characters!  
_

_Summary: __COMPLETE. Naruto insists it's not a party. Naruto insists that it's going to be great. Sasuke knows better. SNS, canonverse, Post-war but pre-new gen, established relationship, oneshot. Happy birthday Sasuke!__  
_

_A/N: I finally have a birthday fic on an actual birthday! I'm knocking out the holidays one by one haha. I hope you guys like this one!  
_

_I have a couple of things - the physical copy of Something Good is on it's way! The manuscript is done, but I need a bit more time to figure out the cover art :) I'll keep you updated on tumblr!_

_The second thing: I've started posting some original work! You can find the links for everything on my tumblr page. No fanfiction is posted alongside it - that will say on AO3 and here, but if you want double the content, check it out! I'm posting monthly fics there as well, and my writing is very similar to what you're used to :D If you've got any questions, ask me on tumblr or twitter. I'll respond as fast as I can :)  
_

_All of that out of the way, let's get to the good stuff!_

* * *

**Sasuke's "Not a Birthday Party" Birthday Party  
**

Four years, two months and three days.

Sasuke scowled down at the papers in his hand. That time didn't include, of course, his first stint in the village (thirteen years, one month and twenty days, but who was counting)—but if his math was right, Sasuke had been back in Konoha for four odd years.

Five years of communication with them, though. With Naruto, anyway—meeting with him at random, awkward hours that had barely amounted to any at all. Meetings with the pretext of advice—the excuse of Sasuke understanding, perhaps even more than Naruto did, just how damaging the system could be...

Naruto had been tired, and Sasuke had been impatient. He had wanted the change and yet he didn't want to make it—he wanted it to be _done_, and why did it have to be them to do it? Both of them, who had already given enough, bled enough, cried enough—

Sasuke wanted it to be over already, and each time Naruto came, it was with the news that it wasn't.

It had taken one particularly frustrating, regressive night for Naruto to break. It had been the words he needed to hear, in retrospect—the ones that Naruto had snapped, with flashing eyes and fingers twisted through blond hair—that if Sasuke wanted change so badly then he ought to _fucking come back and help me make it or just shut up and let me do my job at my pace, asshole! _

The apology letter came within the hour Naruto left. The moron had always been too soft.

Sasuke had already been on his way.

And—in total, he thought—it had taken him seven years. Five outside of Konoha, and two within, before Sasuke could really...breathe. Relax. Live. Whatever it was, Naruto sped up the process.

Go figure.

It had taken the moron about two months to stop blinking at Sasuke as if he was a dream in front of his eyes, and five more for him to start smiling like himself again. A full year nearly managed to pass before Naruto had finally stumbled, wide-eyed and unwilling, into a confession that Sasuke was utterly convinced he hadn't planned on making.

Life had been a little easier, after that.

And Sasuke had never been one for physical comforts, but Naruto was nothing if not an exception to any rule. Every rule. All of Sasuke's rules, Naruto broke them one by one—and with every day, it grew more difficult to stop himself from indulging him.

Still—this one, he would keep. Four years, two months, and three days—and it was the first time Naruto had even _attempted _this.

He flicked the pages shut as he heard the lock turn.

"No."

He didn't even let Naruto make it through the door.

"...Huh?" Naruto blinked, one hand still on the keys—

"No," Sasuke said, lifting the pages so Naruto would be well aware. "Absolutely not. You will—"

"Wh—I didn't do anything!"

Sasuke flung the papers at Naruto's face.

"Wh—_ow_, okay, teme—yeah. I changed your mission schedule," Naruto said, scrambling at the scattered mess. "So?"

Naruto held it back out to him.

Sasuke didn't move.

"You gave me a day off." A very _specific_ day, and if Naruto honestly thought Sasuke wouldn't—

"Yeah." Naruto rolled his eyes. "So what?"

"I will kill you."

Naruto had the absolute _gall_ to laugh. And yes, it was with glittering blue eyes that ducked down to the floor and a smile that was half-bitten down, so Sasuke's anger might have crushed before it had the chance to begin, but—

"You—"

"Relax, teme, I'm not throwing you a birthday party."

Sasuke pulled his anger up again.

"Really," he said.

"Yeah," Naruto said, "really. So you can cal—"

"So you expect me to believe," Sasuke took a step forwards, "that you just _happened_ to give me that day, and that you have absolutely nothing planned?"

Naruto met his eyes head on.

"I never said I wasn't planning anything. I just said I'm not planning a birthday party."

"Don't play around, Uzumaki."

Naruto paused.

"I'm not. I know you, and I love you."

_Damn it_—Sasuke immediately looked away. Naruto knew how completely unbalanced those words made Sasuke's head—

"I want to do something for you. Is that so crazy?"

Sasuke let out a breath.

"Usuratonkachi," he started quietly. "Listen. I have four memories of that day, and everyone involved in them is dead. It's not something I want to think about, it's not something I want to remember, it's not something I ever want to bring up. Do you understand?"

Sasuke stopped, breathing heavy. Naruto's eyes were wide, but there was a glint in them that had Sasuke—

"Nope."

"You—what?"

"I get it. Still gonna plan something."

"Naruto, you—"

"Nope. We're gonna have fun and you're going to love it."

"I promise you, I'm not."

"And I promise you," Naruto said, leaning in, "you will."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

Naruto's smile widened.

"Fine. Let's say this," he said, moving around Sasuke, "if you win—and you hate it, which you won't—then I'll never celebrate any sort of holiday around you ever again."

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow.

"I mean it," Naruto said, "no White Day, no Valentines—"

"We already don't celebrate those."

"No days of birth," Naruto sing-songed. "Hm? Wouldn't that be nice?"

Sasuke tilted his head, eyeing Naruto.

"What's in it for you?"

"Other than blowing your mind?" Naruto grinned. "Other than proving you wrong? Other than rocking your world? Other than—"

"None of those things are going to happen."

Naruto laughed.

"Sure, sure—but when they all do," Naruto said, back to being in front of Sasuke, "you have to tell me you love me. You have to tell me I'm the _best_ and that I know you better than anybody else in the world and that I—"

"I hope you're going to write this all down."

Naruto laughed.

"Yeah," he said, close and shining and beautiful, "I'll write you a whole speech. So…?"

"So?" Sasuke asked, breath against Naruto's lips—

"Deal?" Naruto whispered.

"...Fine."

They sealed it with a kiss.

* * *

Sasuke awoke with a sense of...dread.

There was no sense in sugarcoating it—he knew today was going to be terrible. He hated this day. If all went well, he avoided the calendar for the month and lost track of time entirely—if it was up to Sasuke, the day would come and go with no one ever even knowing, no one commenting on it, no one—

No one waking up beside him, _beaming_.

"Morning," Naruto said, smile far brighter than the light streaming through the window. It was a miracle he could ever manage to sleep with _this_ beside him—

"Ugh," Sasuke responded, rolling away.

Not today. He was too tired for this today. Couldn't he just sleep through it all? He…

"If you forfeit the bet, I automatically win."

Sasuke was immediately wide awake.

"Fine," he said, pushing a laughing Naruto off of him. "But I need to take a shower."

And stall whatever mess Naruto had planned. Naruto loved surprises and celebrations, Sasuke knew. He had no doubt what kind of ideas Naruto would have had—and yes, sure, maybe he knew Sasuke better than anyone, but that didn't stop him from—

"Perfect," Naruto said, "you read my mind."

Naruto slipped past Sasuke, hand trailing along the bottom of his stomach—

Sasuke's smile widened.

Stalling would be easy.

He let Naruto use his back to push the door shut.

* * *

Easy.

And maybe a bit more satisfying and pleasant and comforting and—whatever goodness Naruto always managed to make him feel—for a day that was supposed to be terrible, but there was plenty of it left.

But yes, alright, Naruto had managed his favourite breakfast before Sasuke had even been able to notice—and _yes_, _alright_, it was incredibly difficult to stay in the mood he ought to be with the ball of veritable sunshine humming a tune and bouncing on the balls of his feet around him—

But there was _plenty_ of the day left to turn his mood sour. Plenty of it—they hadn't even left the house yet, and from the way Naruto was gathering things—

"Are you packing a lunch?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Or dinner, or, uh," Naruto paused, with one lopsided hand still in the bag, "depends on how long we take. I'm being responsible!"

Sasuke snorted, and firmly ignored Naruto's shouted "_hey!_" in response.

"Okay," Naruto said, shuffling back, "ready. C'mon, c'mon—get up, time to go!"

Sasuke sighed, but dutifully stood. He distinctly saw Naruto's smile widen.

"I'm coming," he grumbled, "quit yelling, usuratonkachi."

Naruto grinned, and shoved the door open with his hip.

"After you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but dutifully stepped through the door—and kept walking.

"I'm surprised," Naruto said, quickly locking the door so he could catch up to Sasuke, "that you're being so obedient."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

Naruto smiled.

"You really trust me, huh?"

"Fuck off, Uzumaki."

And Naruto had to jog after him that time, even through Sasuke had little to no idea where he was supposed to be—

"No, no, hang on, turn here—come on," Naruto laughed, catching Sasuke by the wrist to pull him back. Sasuke pretended not to notice the touch—even as it lingered.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see," Naruto answered vaguely, letting go of him. Sasuke wasn't one for public affection, but there was barely anyone out here...

"I likely won't," he pointed out, feeling the cold air twist around his wrist. "I don't recognize half the village since you rebuilt it."

"You're getting better," Naruto insisted. "And this place hasn't changed at all. Although, now that I think about it, I dunno if we ever went there as kids…"

Sasuke snorted.

"Outside of the main city, then. A training ground?"

Naruto twitched. Sasuke's smile widened.

"Not telling," Naruto said, looking away. And Sasuke's good mood faltered there, as Naruto looked past him to meet the eyes of—

Sakura.

Sakura, who they were surely meeting for some sort of gathering or another. Naruto was insistent that Sasuke fit into every part of his life, friends very much included, but Sasuke knew that a part of him would always be strained—

They walked past her.

Sasuke blinked.

Sakura didn't even turn around. Naruto hadn't even said _hello_—Naruto said hello to _everyone_, which was another thing, now that Sasuke thought about it, he hadn't been doing—

"Are you two fighting again?"

Naruto blinked.

"Huh?"

"You and Sakura," Sasuke gestured behind him, "you didn't say a word."

"Well, duh," Naruto answered easily. "You hate small talk."

Oh.

Sasuke continued to walk, turning over the thought in his mind—the people who had passed them, the way their eyes hadn't lingered, the way there had been so few of them—

"You cleared the streets."

Naruto twitched again.

"Dunno what you're talking about."

Sasuke ducked his head to hide his smile. _That_ had to have taken a considerable amount of planning, especially considering how many hundreds of people tended to stop Naruto in the streets on a daily basis…

Damn it.

The moron was winning this.

"But, uh," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his neck, "gimmie a sec—there. I'm gonna leave the bag out here—at the first entrance."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Multiple entrances? For a training ground?"

Naruto ducked his head.

"For the twenty-seventh training ground. You know what's special about the twenty-seventh training ground?"

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow, glancing around at the half-destroyed trees, uneven ground, and all around barren wasteland—

"Not much of anything?"

Naruto laughed.

"If you rent it out," Naruto answered, turning to face Sasuke fully, "you're allowed to damage it as much as you want."

Sasuke's interest grew tenfold.

Naruto grinned.

"Don't hold back, teme."

And they were gone.

* * *

He'd needed that.

Good fucking god, had he needed that.

Sasuke lay on the ground, panting and sore and exhausted and—

Exhilarated. He hadn't realized just how little of his training his missions used, nowadays—days of peace were great, like breathing clean air, but Sasuke had been _craving_ challenge.

And Naruto was always a challenge.

"Ugh," Naruto said, head pressed into Sasuke's chest, "please tell me you concede."

Sasuke pressed the kunai handle to Naruto's neck.

"Damn it!" Naruto rolled off of him. "I thought I got all your weapons…"

"You thought," Sasuke repeated, unmoving, "and—on that note—if you don't find my sword…"

Naruto waved a hand.

"S'in a tree somewhere, I'll get it. Ugh," he let out another breath, pushing himself until he was sitting up, "man."

Naruto threw Sasuke a tired, wide grin.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"That was fun," Naruto told him. "We should come here like—every week. You think we could come here every week?"

Sasuke snorted. It was tempting—tiring as it had been, Sasuke felt...

"That depends. How much of your money did you drain for this?"

Naruto ducked his head.

"Not important."

"It was too much, wasn't it?"

"Not _important_."

Sasuke laughed.

"God," he said, breathing in, "you're so stupid."

Naruto shoved at his shoulder.

"Yeah?" Naruto said, shoving him again. "Yeah—if I'm so _stupid_, how come you had a great fucking day, huh?"

Oh god damn it all.

Naruto laughed at his silence, but Sasuke kept his lips firmly sealed, even as he watched Naruto get to his feet.

"Tell you what," Naruto said, making a pathetic attempt to brush the dirt away, "I'm gonna go see if we didn't blow up my bag and you're gonna sit here and think about how you're gonna tell me I won."

Sasuke snorted and closed his eyes, listening to the soft sounds of Naruto walking away. Interesting, he thought—although not particularly surprising—that Naruto knew Sasuke's perfect day needed so little. It was better with less, even—no people, no missions, no paperwork, no conversations, no gifts—but just…

Them.

Sasuke opened his eyes, scanning the slowly darkening sky.

The only thing Sasuke needed was Naruto.

How very predictable of him.

"I'm back," said the familiar, beautiful voice, sitting itself down beside him.

Sasuke lazily turned his gaze back to Naruto. Sometimes—some _days_, like this one—this peace and happiness and gentle tranquility just felt...impossible. Unreal. Like floating in a dream, and Sasuke would feel a deep terror in his chest at the thought of waking, in the dark, cold and alone and angry again—

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke flickered back into reality—staring into Naruto's worried eyes.

"I'm not—I mean, if you actually hated this, you can tell me," Naruto said quickly, running a nervous hand through his hair. "I was just—I thought that you—"

Sasuke reached up and pulled Naruto to him by the ear.

"Your first instinct was correct."

And then he let go, and promptly shoved Naruto's face away. Naruto protested—but he was smiling: a brilliant, proud, blushing smile that had Sasuke looking anywhere but there—

Sasuke pushed himself up and cleared his throat.

"I have a speech to deliver, then?"

Naruto laughed.

"Yeah," he said, ruffling through his bag, "yeah, I wrote it down for you."

Naruto held out a small, folded piece of paper.

"Read it out loud—line by line."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Whatever."

He unfolded the piece of paper as Naruto settled down beside him again.

_'I love you.'_

Sasuke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I love you," he read dutifully.

"Mm," Naruto said, leaning back with his eyes closed, "never get tired of that one. Keep going."

Sasuke let out a breath.

_'You're the best ninja in Konoha.'_

"You're the best ninja in Konoha."

"'Course I am." Naruto threw him a teasing grin.

_'In the world, too. Even better than I am, which is saying something, 'cause I'm pretty damn good.'_

"In the world, too," Sasuke sighed, "even better than I am, which is saying some—did you write this when you were twelve?"

Naruto laughed and slapped at his arm.

"Shut up," he said, nudging his shoulder into Sasuke's. "Keep reading."

"Which is saying something, _'cause I'm pretty damn good_," Sasuke read, voice dripping with sarcasm. Naruto laughed harder.

"Keep going, asshole!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

_'But I've never been able to stop myself from admiring you.'_

"But I've never been able to stop myself from admiring your apparently incredibly arrogant self—"

"Oi!"

Sasuke bit down on his smile.

_'Even when we were young, I thought you were the coolest.'_

"Even when we were young," he said, "I thought you were the coolest. I'm not sure any living person has ever used that word to describe you—"

"You think I'm cool as hell, admit it."

"Not when you were _young_."

"Not ever? Not even once?"

Sasuke opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Naruto's smile widened.

"Yeah," he said, looking far too proud of himself for Sasuke's comfort, "that's what I thought. Keep reading."

Sasuke let out a breath and looked back down.

_'I think I fell a little more in love with you every day.'_

Oh.

Sasuke swallowed.

"I think," he said, keeping his eyes firmly on the words, "I fell more in love with you every day."

He felt Naruto gently place his bandaged hand on top of Sasuke's thigh.

_'I pulled away from you then, and I regret it every day.'_

"I," Sasuke started, breathing in, "pulled away from you then."

Naruto's fingertips traced down to his knee.

"And I regret it," he whispered, "every day."

_'I don't want to be away from you ever again.'_

"I don't want to be away from you," Sasuke said quietly, "ever a…"

He trailed off, staring at the page.

"Anything else?" Naruto asked quietly, staring at the sunset.

_'Sasuke Uchiha, will you marry me?'_

Sasuke's gaze snapped up to stare at Naruto.

Naruto turned back with a hesitant, tender smile.

"I did think you were the coolest," he offered softly, ducking his head a little.

Sasuke's voice stuck in his throat.

"Not that you would've _ever_ gotten me to admit it," he said, turning back to the sun with a quiet laugh. "I was convinced you heard it from every single other goddamn person every second of every day, and admitting that you were actually cool and talented and whatever would mean that you had a _reason_ to be such a cocky asshole and that would mean you were better than me which I still don't—"

"Naruto."

Naruto flinched and turned to face him, sitting so still Sasuke was convinced he was holding his breath—

"Yes."

Naruto's eyes widened, and his chest fell.

"Y-yeah? Yes—like yes, you say yes?"

"Yes," Sasuke said again, "to your plan to always celebrate my birthday and call it an anniversary."

Naruto's mouth opened and closed.

"That was—I—I thought that—"

Naruto stuttered a few more half-words, and Sasuke's smile grew.

"It wasn't only that! I really want to—I've wanted to—I've been planning this for—stop laughing at me!"

But Sasuke couldn't help it—not now, not with Naruto wrestling him back to the ground, babbling his embarrassment and relief and happiness—and—and _damn it all_—

Naruto was right.

Today had been the best day.

* * *

_A/N:_ _I told you I needed something lighthearted after Something Good, haha! I really liked writing some easy, happy love in canon for once. What did you guys thing? Let me know!  
_

_Till next time,_

_\- Kinomi_


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